Department of Entomology and Nematology, Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 3205 College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 33314, USA.
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa, 940-0495, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2022 May 12;12(1):7837. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-11512-1.
Elaborate task allocation is key to the ecological success of eusocial insects. Termite colonies are known for exhibiting age polyethism, with older instars more likely to depart the reproductive center to access food. However, it remains unknown how termites retain this spatial structure against external disturbances. Here we show that a subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki combines age polyethism and behavioral flexibility to maintain a constant worker proportion at the food area. Since this termite inhabits multiple wood pieces by connecting them through underground tunnels, disastrous colony splitting events can result in the loss of colony members. We simulated this via weekly removal of all individuals at the food area. Our results showed that termites maintained a worker proportion of ~ 20% at the food area regardless of changes in total colony size and demographic composition, where younger workers replaced food acquisition functions to maintain a constant worker proportion at the food area. Food consumption analysis revealed that the per-capita food consumption rate decreased with younger workers, but the colony did not compensate for the deficiency by increasing the proportion of workers at the feeding site. These results suggest that termite colonies prioritize risk management of colony fragmentation while maintaining suitable food acquisition efficiency with the next available workers in the colony, highlighting the importance of task allocation for colony resiliency under fluctuating environments.
精细的任务分配是社会性昆虫生态成功的关键。众所周知,白蚁群体表现出年龄多态现象,即年龄较大的个体更有可能离开生殖中心去获取食物。然而,目前尚不清楚白蚁如何在受到外部干扰的情况下保持这种空间结构。在这里,我们发现一种地下白蚁 Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki 结合了年龄多态性和行为灵活性,以在食物区域保持恒定的工蚁比例。由于这种白蚁通过地下隧道将多个木块连接起来,因此灾难性的群体分裂事件可能导致群体成员的损失。我们通过每周从食物区移除所有个体来模拟这种情况。我们的结果表明,无论总群体规模和人口组成如何变化,白蚁都能在食物区维持大约 20%的工蚁比例,年轻的工蚁替代了食物获取功能,以维持食物区的工蚁比例不变。食物消耗分析表明,人均食物消耗率随着年轻工蚁的增加而降低,但蚁群并没有通过增加觅食地点的工蚁比例来弥补这一不足。这些结果表明,白蚁群体在优先管理群体分裂风险的同时,利用群体中可用的下一批工蚁来维持适当的食物获取效率,突出了任务分配对于在波动环境下保持群体弹性的重要性。
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